FTC Warns Tech Giants Against Silently Changing Privacy Policies

It’s quite common for firms to make amendments to privacy policies as well as their terms of service agreements without going public about the news.

But the FTC has vowed to take serious action against those who opt to breach the law, adding how such actions will no longer be tolerated for obvious reasons.

Calling the matter deceptive and unfair, they feel the amendments are against the law and that’s especially true as it gives companies access to user data that can be exploited as per the FTC's latest argument.

The FTC added how all those competing in the industry must notify the regulatory body and avoid the practice, to begin with as they risk breaking the law, as revealed in their latest blog post.

The FTC also mentioned how the number of incidents entailing the collection of user data from the web for the sake of training AI algorithms continues to peak as we speak and that’s alarming for obvious reasons.

So many organizations are now resorting to the likes of using data that’s easily accessible through this method, despite knowing very well how it’s unlawful. The data is then used for the training of their AI algorithms.

Such organizations attain most of the data from users located on their own apps but digging and then sharing the data for purposes like AI development is obviously wrong as there are plenty of privacy policies in place that bar such acts to begin with. If the deal is altered, permission must first be attained, it added.

So many firms are often tempted to fix the matter by altering the regulations seen in the policy so that no one is restricted and everyone makes use of client data in the right manner, the commission further explained.

Meanwhile, avoiding matters like backlash from users across the board who continue to be concerned about issues like privacy, a solution can be attained on this front in regards to producing changes that are more public in nature.

The FTC stated how it’s going to be illegal for enterprises to go back and forth on the policies in place for data collection as that’s deceptive and unfair for obvious reasons.

Any business that grabs a hold of user data depending on what privacy commitments are in place can’t go on and make the change without going public with the news and seeking permission as to why a change was being made to begin with.

For now, the FTC confirmed how it’s going to begin a strict crackdown on this front against all those offenders. Such warnings are clear proof of how organizations would be compelled to become more upfront when seeking user permission for AI training purposes.

In August of last year, we saw X roll out such changes to the privacy policy that had to do with how the firm could better attain user data for AI training purposes.

Image: Digital Information World - AIgen

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